On June 13, 2005, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization designated UTMB as a Collaborating Center on Aging and Health during a ceremony at UTMB. Martha Pelaez, PhD, regional advisor for aging and health with PAHO/WHO, presented a certificate to Dr. James Goodwin, former director of UTMB's Sealy Center on Aging, designating UTMB as the home of the collaborating center. Dr. Pelaez was responsible for technical collaboration on public health and aging in 28 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

During the ceremony, Dr. Pelaez told the audience to brace for serious problems among aging Hispanics in Latin America over the next 45 years. These countries will have to resolve how to care for hundreds of millions of older adults, she said, while also meeting the needs created by a relatively high birth rate. "The collaborating center at UTMB will help solve these problems," Dr. Pelaez said.

WHO/PAHO Collaborating Centers assist the global organization to investigate public health issues from many angles, ranging from basic science and animal studies to clinical trials, public policy, training, and dissemination.

In 2008, Dr. Rebeca Wong, Associate Director of the Sealy Center on Aging, was appointed as the director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center.

The PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center on Aging and Health at UTMB was successfully re-designated following its first and subsequent designations, in 2009, 2013, 2018, and 2022.

In 2024, Norma A. Pérez Raifaisen, MD, DrPH, CPC, was appointed as the director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center on Aging and Health at UTMB.